Back on the mechanic thing... I have never known a garage having to be open. I guess that's the confusion for me. You give your credit card # over the phone when they are open and they tell you where they are parking it. You bring a spare key and pick it up whenever you get a ride. No need to interact or have them open for business - cars are routinely left outside of businesses, they are built for it.

Heckling, as often as not the mechanic is closed when I drop off as well. I just park it in their lot, and drop an envelope in their mailslot with my key, and a note with my name, plate #, phone #, and a brief description of the problem.

The confusion possibly stems from "Not everybody is as lucky to have a mechanic like yours."

I'm 50+ years old and it's only been the past 3-4 years where I found a mechanic that I trust and gives me the options of drop-off/pick-up after hours. To me, this is a luxury and certainly not the norm for other mechanics around here.

eta: my mechanic is a small single owner garage. 2 stalls attached to a gas station.

One of the things I love about my mechanic place: they are happy to lock the keys in the car for me, let me pick it up that evening (with spare keys), then let me come in a day or two later to pay for it. The manager even let me borrow her own car (as in, her personal vehicle) once when I would have had to wait for longer than expected!

Nearly every person that moves to my area (plus any local teens who haven't come across this info before) eventually has the same brain-hurty conversation.

BG: About an hour from MyTown, out in the middle of a desert, is a nuclear research facility, which is commonly referred to as The Site. Among the many people who work there are those who are training to serve on Navy nuclear-powered submarines. So we get some version of the following:

Way back when, I went with several people in a college class to a town in the middle-of-nowhere Nevada, for a research project. In the evening, we all headed for the only casino in town.

The biggest employer in the town was the Navy, which had a training facility in the area for pilots--enough desolation so they could practice using weapons. Nevada has no ocean. A lot of it is desert. Military people being military people, the Navy stationed law enforcement officers in the casino to help with security. The Navy calls these "Shore Patrol," because the main function is to "make certain that sailors on liberty do not become too rowdy." That's mostly in a port town, not in the middle of the desert.

Well, college students being college students, we defied the legal requirement that you must be 21 to drink and gamble in Nevada. Casino security & the Shore Patrol spotted us pretty quickly and the Shore Patrol helped out by escorting us, one by one, off the premises.

I have always enjoyed perplexing people by saying that I was once thrown out of every casino in Fallon, Nevada, by the Shore Patrol.

This one happened Sunday, for background in my town on Sundays we can only sell alcohol from 12 pm to 7 pm. The hours were actually extended recently it used to be from 12 pm to 6 pm.

Regular Customer approaches counter six pack in hand.

Me:Sir, I'm afraid I can't sell you that it's past seven.RC: Oh that's right it's Sunday. Sorry.Me:It's no problem.RC: Hey do you know anyone that's open later?Me:You mean that sells alcohol?RC:Yeah. *nods*Me: Sir, nobody will be able to sell you alcohol until tomorrow.RC:Why not?

My friend emailed her coworker a list of instructions to take care of a task that needed to be done while she was out of the office.

The list was pretty explicit, and broken down into steps. Friend also walked coworker through the steps.

When friend got back to the office, coworker had not done the task correctly. When friend asked about the parts that hadn't been done, coworker said, "If you wanted it done right, you should have given me written instructions!"

Friend had to walk away. Her head was about to explode from the thought that emails somehow don't qualify as written.

I am constantly amazed by the number of recipes I see that call for canned mushrooms. Mushrooms are inexpensive and plentiful in my area, and we go through 3 pounds a week.

My DH makes my brain hurt as he complains about the cost of milk ($4/gal) and eggs ($2.50/dozen), but has no qualms on buying pomegranate juice ($10/2 liters) or whey powder ($8/lb). I still send him to the store when needed.

*The idea was having visible cop cars out and about especially in certain neighborhood would cut down on crime - also in the case of a citywide emergency the cops could Dress at home and go directly to were they were needed with all their equipment instead of going to the station and then going to the emergency.

It's also good for continuity of operations. If all the equipment and vehicles are stored at a single location, and that location has a disaster (tornado, fire, gas explosion, earthquake, etc), all the equipment is lost. Having it spread out throughout the city prevents a single incident from crippling all operations.

*The idea was having visible cop cars out and about especially in certain neighborhood would cut down on crime - also in the case of a citywide emergency the cops could Dress at home and go directly to were they were needed with all their equipment instead of going to the station and then going to the emergency.

It's also good for continuity of operations. If all the equipment and vehicles are stored at a single location, and that location has a disaster (tornado, fire, gas explosion, earthquake, etc), all the equipment is lost. Having it spread out throughout the city prevents a single incident from crippling all operations.

Except at shift change, when some guy with a tractor runs them over. Got to love living in Vermont.

Just got off the phone with a parent. Sweet young boy with ADHD, parents on top of things as they can be. I had called to tell her about a great score on a post test of our "2 digit by 2 digit addition and subtraction with regrouping unit".

He is having some problems coping at the end of the day and I wanted to see if she was ok with some ideas I had to help him cope. She was fine with the ideas, but told me something that made my brain hurt and heart break.

She may have to move out of our zone and wants to try and get a transfer so he can stay. The teachers he has had at our school have all worked with her. The previous school told her she was a horrible parent and needed to spank him more often. Then made her sign a consent to corporal punishment on condition of him staying in school. They gave him swats more than once. He was in KINDER at the time. His behavior problems are a result of brain chemistry problems - and he is the sweetest open hearted little boy who struggles so hard to be good but sometimes just can't cope. I would give him a big hug tomorrow - but he doesn't like being touched - so maybe an air five.

Hopefully she'll either find a way to be able to stay in your school district or perhaps move to a new one which knows how to treat special needs children. What a horrible position to be in as a parent.

She may have to move out of our zone and wants to try and get a transfer so he can stay. The teachers he has had at our school have all worked with her. The previous school told her she was a horrible parent and needed to spank him more often. Then made her sign a consent to corporal punishment on condition of him staying in school. They gave him swats more than once. He was in KINDER at the time. His behavior problems are a result of brain chemistry problems - and he is the sweetest open hearted little boy who struggles so hard to be good but sometimes just can't cope. I would give him a big hug tomorrow - but he doesn't like being touched - so maybe an air five.

I hope he's able to transfer and stay at your school. He needs teachers like you.

I am constantly amazed by the number of recipes I see that call for canned mushrooms. Mushrooms are inexpensive and plentiful in my area, and we go through 3 pounds a week.

My DH makes my brain hurt as he complains about the cost of milk ($4/gal) and eggs ($2.50/dozen), but has no qualms on buying pomegranate juice ($10/2 liters) or whey powder ($8/lb). I still send him to the store when needed.

They are very expensive here, though, and I can only find fresh shiitake, shimeji, portobello and paris.

I am constantly amazed by the number of recipes I see that call for canned mushrooms. Mushrooms are inexpensive and plentiful in my area, and we go through 3 pounds a week.

My DH makes my brain hurt as he complains about the cost of milk ($4/gal) and eggs ($2.50/dozen), but has no qualms on buying pomegranate juice ($10/2 liters) or whey powder ($8/lb). I still send him to the store when needed.

They're not inexpensive or plentiful in my area. Moreover, fresh mushrooms are generally sold in packs so large that they would go bad long before we'd ever use them as neither dh nor I like them that much.

Customer: "I'm looking for a book."Me: "Can you tell me the title?"Customer: "No, just tell me the general area where to look, I'm sure I'll find it."Me: "I'm afraid I can't help you unless you tell me which book you are looking for." Customer: "I'd prefer my privacy if you don't mind."Me: "Sorry, but in that case I cannot help you, you'll have to look it up yourself. Do you want me to show you how the catalog works?"Customer: "Nevermind. You are very rude, by the way!"